Railroad-crossing.



PATENTED Ami, 1905.

P. J. SANDHOPBR;

RAILROAD cno ssme. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1904.

,2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Httmegs 'f mzfksam/ lnventor gym; I I

PATENTED AUG. 1, 1905.

P J. SANDHOFBR. RAILROAD rcnossme; APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30.1904

2 SHEETS-SHEET M Emh a Inventor Witnesses 1 PAUL JOSEPH SANDI-IOFEROFFLORA, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1905.

Application m June 30,1904. Serial no. 214,779.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL Josnrn SAND- HOFER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Flora, in the county of Clay and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Railroad-Crossing, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to railway-crossings, and has for its object toprovide a comparatively simple, inexpensive, and readily-operablemechanism wherein the rails of one set forming the crossing will beopened to the latter simultaneously with the closing of the crossing tothe other set of rails composing the same, and vice versa, and onewherein the treads of the rails,which are for the time being open, willbe continuous. a

With these and other objects in view the invention comprises the novelfeatures of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafterdescribed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of arailroad-crossing embodying the invention. .Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. vertical sectional elevation takenon a line between the rails and inner guard-rail. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail views ofa slight modification, Fig; 7 being taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a supporting bed or base, uponwhich the pairs or sets of rails 2 and 3, which intersect each otherpreferably at substantially right angles, are secured, there being alsoattached tothe base and within the rectangular space inclosed by theintersecting rails an appropriate.

number of guard-rails i, arranged, respectively, in spaced parallelrelation to the linerails 2 and 3 and united at their meeting ends byangle-irons 5 to produce an open rectangular frame, which is spaced fromthe base 1 by means of spacing members or blocks 6 for a purpose whichwill'hereinafterappear.

The main or line rails 2 and 3 have at the crossing sections 7 of alength substantially equaling the length of the sides of the guardrailframe, these sections 7 being transversely out of alinement with theremaining portions of and spaced endwise, as at 8, from the remainingportions of the rails2 and 3, whereby the flanges of the wheelstraveling upon Fig. .3 is a' one pair of rails may in crossing the other.pair pass through the spaces 8.

Each of the sections 7 has attached to its in reverse directions fromits center outward toward its ends, and disposed for longitudinalreciprocation on the inclined faces of the bearing members aresubstantially wedge-shaped bars or elements 10, arranged in pairs,respectively, on the blocks 9 and in alinement longitudinally with theadjacent ends of the rails 2 and 3. These members 10, which are designedand operable for bridging the spaces 8, are slotted longitudinally, asat 11, for the reception of attaching-bolts 12, which pass through themembers 9 and rail-sections 7 and are encircled beyond the outer facesof the latter by bearing-springs 13, housed within suitable casings 1 1,there being also disposed upon the bolts and held in place thereon bythe adjustable nuts 15 movable sleeves 16, against which the adjacentends of the springs bear in maintaining the members 10 yieldably inplace. At this point it is to be noted that by manipulating the nuts 15the tension of the springs may be varied, whereby the frictional contactof the members 10 against the adjacent faces of the bearing members 9may be varied, thereby varying the readiness with which the members maybe moved. The inward movements of the members 10 toward each other arelimited by means of stop lugs or abutments 17, provided upon andadjacent to the longitudinal center of the bearing members 9, whileaside from the guide-slots ll'the members 10 are guided in theirmovements by means of angle-iron members or clips 18,\bolted to the websof the guard-rails 4 upon the outer face of the latter and bearing uponinwardly-projecting guide-flanges 19, provided at the base of themembers 10.

Pivoted at its center, as at 20, to the base 1 is a rotary oroscillatory member or lever 22, to the opposite ends of which there ispivoted connecting elements or links 23, arranged in pairs to projectfrom the member 22 in reverse direction. The outer ends of the links 23are pivotally connected, respectively, with the adjacent ends of primarybell-crank levers 24:, pivoted, as at25, to the bed 1 and beneathbearing-plates 25, secured to the latter and arranged, respectively, inparallel relation with and upon the inner sides of the guardrails 4. Theplates 25 are angularly bent adjacent to their ends, whereby they areappropriately spaced from the base 1 to permit free play of the levers24c beneath them in moving the sections 10, to which the levers arepivotally connected, as" at 26. It is to be observed that the members 10are, as before stated, arranged in pairs and that one member of eachpair is connected with one of the primary bell-crank levers, while theother member of the pair is pivotally connected, as at 27, with theouter end of an auxiliary bellcrank 28, 'in turn pivoted at its elbow,as at 29, to the base 1 beneath the bearing-plate 25 and having at itsinner end a guide slot or Way 30, adapted to receive a connectingbolt oranalogous device 31, by which the primary and auxiliary bell-cranks arecoupled in pairs, as shown.

One of the bell-cranks 2 L is prolonged or extended beyond the outerface of the adjacent rail to provide an operating-handle 32, to which asignal-tower lever or crossing-gate may be attached, and in practicewhen this handle is swung from side to side the member 22 will be rockedupon its pivot, thereby simultaneously actuating the operating-leversconnected therewith through the medium of the links 23, which areadjustable, as shown, for varying the throw of the operating-levers.When the operating-handle 32 is swung from left to right, theoperating-levers will act to move two pairs of the bridging members 10say, for instance, those carried by the rails 2outward for closing theadjacent spaces 8 and simultaneously retracting the members 10 of therails 3, whereby the crossing will be closed with respect to the latterrails and the treads of the rails 2 rendered continuous.

A movement of the handle 32 from left to right will obviously reversethe movements of the parts, there by closing the crossing relative tothe rails 2 and opening the same to the rails 3, the treads of whichlatter will be made continuous by their respective members 10.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I produce a simple efiicientdevice admirably adapted for the attainment of the ends in view, itbeing understood that minor changes in the details herein set forth maybe resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forexample, while I have shown and described the tracks as preferablycrossing each other at right angles it is obvious that the mechanism maybe employed in instances where the rails intercross at other angles andthat such minor changes as may be necessary to adapt the structure forsuch an application will be within the scope of the invention.Furthermore, acover (not shown) will in practice be applied over theshifting levers to protect them from snow, sleet, &c., and from becomingdamaged by broken or dragging brake-beams or other parts of thecar-rigging.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 there is illustrated a modified arrangement forattaching the bars or elements 10 to position upon the inclined bearingmembers 9. .In this construction there is extended transversely acrossand beneath the rails a clamping member or bar 33, the

inner end of which isupturned in the form of a pintle 34, adapted forengagement with the eye of a perforated ear or lug 35, provided on theouter face of the bar or element 10, while the outer end of the member33 is upturned and provided with a perforated head 36 for the receptionof a bolt 37, extended into a tubular sleeve or casing 38, carried atthe outer side of the rail, there being arranged upon the bolt anormally expanded spring39, the inner end of which bears upon anadjustable nut or head 40, arranged within the sleeve 38. The spring 39in tending to expand serves to move the clamping member 33 in adirection for maintaining the wedge bar or element 10 in firm butyieldablc contact with the ad jacentface of the bearing member 9. inother respects the construction and operation is identical with thatheretofore described, it being noted, however, that under the modifiedarrangement the bolts 12, which pass through the rails and the slots 11within the members 10, are dispensed with.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In arailroad-crossing, crossing-rai ls each comprising a central stationarysection and longitudinally-movable end sections substantially inalinement with the central section, and means for simultaneously movingsuch end sections to close the spaces of the crossing.

2. The combination in a railway-crossing, of crossing-rails each formedof a central stationary section and longitudinallymovable endsections,means for holding the end sections frictionally against thecentral section, and means for simultaneously moving said end sections.

3. The combination in a railway-crossing,of crossing-rails eachcomprising a central stationary section and longitudinally-movable endsections, springs tending to force the end sections into engagement withthe central section, means for simultaneously moving said end sections,and auxiliary guiding devices for said end sections.

4. The combination in a railway-crossin g, of crossing-rails each formedof a central stationary section, and a pair of longitudinallymovable endsections, twin levers for each crossing-rail, such twin levers beingoperatively connected to the end sections, a lever pivoted approximatelyat the center of the crossing, and links connecting said lever to thecentral sets of twin levers whereby all of said end sections aresii'nultaneously operated.

5. In a device of the class described, the in- In testimony that I claimthe foregoing as tersecting rails having spaces at the points of my ownI have hereto aflixed my signature in interselction, slidablewedlge-sharlged members the presence of two Witnesses. movab e foropening orc osing t espaces an having their inclined faces disposedtoward PAUL JOSEPH SANDHOFER' the rails, and means for attaching themem- Witnesses: hers to and maintaining them yieldably in con- FRANKLINVALBERT, tact with the rails. Y J. E. DAY.

